Diwali recipes

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Wishing you all friends and readers a very Happy and Prosperous New Year! Life is a bit busy these days, so taking a short break, see you guys with more exciting recipes next year, meanwhile enjoy this recipe I posted as guest post at Sandhya's kitchen...This recipe idea flashed,when I saw a pamphlet I got from 7 eleven introducing Pizza bites. I loved the idea and thought it would be easy to make at home. As I have been making pizza from the scratch for quite a while now and have tried several buns, I was pretty confident in try these and enjoyed making these. This could be an easy party snack idea, kids would be super excited to have it and sure we can also enjoy this. The stuffing is flexible so you can experiment it with your favourite topping,let it be simple like what I have used or add on your favourites like black olives,mushrooms…it’s your choice!

Method

Heat milk until lukewarm,dissolve sugar and yeast. Let it rest for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes the mixture would have been raised to frothy, proving that the yeast is active. If not,your yeast is not active and use active yeast

Meanwhile, take flour in a large bow and make a dent in the middle. Add salt, oil and the yeast mixture in the dent and make a smooth pliable dough. If sticky sprinkle little more flour,if too dry sprinkle some water. The dough should be smooth and pliable.

Let it rest for 1 hour, wrap the bowl with cling wrap. After an hour the dough should have been raised. Punch it down and knead to make it smooth.

Make equal sized balls and arrange in a greased baking tray.Meanwhile prepare the filling. Heat a pan with oil and fry capsicums,tomato and onion for just a minute. Cool down and add sauce, cheese, Italian seasoning, salt and chilli flakes . Mix well.

Flatten the prepared dough balls and keep a small lemon sized ball of the filling.

Pinch the edges towards centre to cover the filling as shown in the picture. Arrange in the baking tray with the sealed side down. Make sure you have sealed properly,otherwise, the cheese will ooze out.

Pre heat the oven to 190o C and till then brush the buns with milk little and bake it for 18-20 minutes or until the buns start becoming golden brown on the top. Brush generously with butter after done.

Notes

While sealing the buns, you can use water if you find it difficult to do so.

Adjust the baking time accordingly. Keep an eye on the buns after 15 minutes.

You can sprinkle white sesame seeds or even chilli flakes on the top before baking the buns.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

I had no idea that peas masala could be so delicious if made at home, until I tried on my own. Before that, I always had tasted in restaurants, as an add on along with other gravies and never liked it that much. This is an easy recipe except the frying part, as it splutters a lot while frying, but I cover and fry the masala and overcome the spills. It goes well with roti or naan , even I eat it with steamed basmati rice or mild pulao 's side dish. I use frozen peas, we can also use fresh green peas and the dried ones for the same recipe.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

After my soya chunks curry, I try to cook few other soya chunks recipes and this is one of the try. This is not soya chunks but its smaller than that, tiny bits called Soya Chura. I bought the MDH soyatein brand, if you want to know. I got this inspiration of making parata when I saw this in Ananda bhavan menu. They had made it with maida and it was square in shape too. I made it just like any other stuffed parathas. Used atta for making dough.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

I usually make cauliflower curry for Aj who loves cauliflower a lot, that he would even eat it every day as accompaniment for his lunch. He is that much crazy about cauliflower. Even I like cauliflower, there is a fair reason behind it. My mom never buys cauliflower or cooks cauliflower at home. That’s coz, they hate the small worms inside the cauliflower,which is used to be a common thing those days. So she treats that veggie as ‘Non-veg’. So only very few times I had tasted cauliflower in restaurants, when I am with my friends.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

I am adding a ‘Soup’ category in my blog first time now. Coz, this is my first ‘Soup’ post. Yes, I am not a soup person, no body in home either. The reason is I am very lazy to make soup, but can have it if someone makes for me and will be more than happy to have it. Good for my weight and health too… My mom makes some soups back home, in which carrot soup will be more in frequence. She adds tomato and wont add butter in her soup. But I tried this way from a cookbook.
I love sweet corn soup and tomato soup more than carrot soup, sure will try those and post in recent future. And the best thing I love in soup is the crouton. Also I would love to pair soup with a bread toast. Wish I could make soups more often and develop a love with it, for my health sake at least. If only I have this habit, Aj would consider having soup. I have tough times in making him drink a soup even if he has cold and a hot bowl of soup with pepper will be comforting him.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Vendakkai poriyal/ ladies finger poriyal is the one I love to mix and eat with rice and sesame oil/ghee. It needs some time and patience for cutting and sautéing the ladies finger/okra. But I love it so much to do and as well as eat. When I was new for cooking, it used to mess up with this without knowing the technique. Now I think I can make it easily and wonder how I messed up with this easy recipe.